Category Archives: Game

Beer Pong Rules

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: USC Rugby
Residence: Philadelphia, Pa
Performance Date: 23 April 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian, Arabic

Italian-American

University of Southern California

USC Rugby

International Relations

Italian, Arabic, English

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

23 April 2011

Beer pong-rugby team rules

-10 cups per side

-2 beers per side

-2 players per team, 2 teams per game

– the elbow of the shooter cannot pass the edge of the table when shooting

-make 2 balls in two different cups=both balls back and the two cups made are pulled

-make 2 balls in same cup= both balls back and three cups pulled from the game

-if a person misses and the ball rolls past the midpoint of the table back towards the shooting side, the shooter can pick up the ball and shoot the ball from “behind the back”

-if the shooter bounces the ball into a cup, two cups are pulled from the game

– if the ball is bounced, the opposing team can swat the ball away

– if the ball is spinning around in the cup, and hasn’t touched the beer, a male can flip the ball out with two fingers. If female the player can blow the ball out.

-if a player makes two consecutive shots over 2 turns, that person states “heating up”

-If a player make 3 consecutive shots over three turns, and said “heating up” after making two in a row, the player can say “on fire.” When “on fire” a player shoots the ball until he misses.

– If a player makes the last cup, the opposing team gets a “rebuttal” and shoots till they miss. (1) If the opposing team falls to make the all the cups from the team that made the last cup, the game ends and the team who failed the rebuttal has to drink all the cups remaining on the table. (2) If the opposing team makes all the cups on from the shooter’s team, it becomes a “tie breaker” and three more cups are added to each team.

-if both players make the last cup, the game ends and the losing team has to drink all the remaining cups.

CG states that there is no particular reason why the rugby team uses these specific rules for beer pong. He mentions that these were the rules already used by older rugby players, when he joined the team as a freshman. Every new freshman class, CG explains that new teammates have to be taught the rules that they use. CG did mention that having come from the East coast, where the rules are slightly different, he too had to be taught.

Looking at the rules for beer pong, there is obviously significant room for variation. Generally though, the game does have a core group of rules that doesn’t change. It is not uncommon for individuals to pre-empt the game by asking the rules they are going to play. As someone who has played the game before, it is fairly common to run into individuals with different rules. Oftentimes these people are from different schools, regions of the country, or identify with different groups. When there is confusion to which rules they should play by, usually the individual supplying the alcohol or who owns the table gets to decide which rules are to be used. In some parts of the country the game is called Beirut and not beer pong.

Rugby Song: Jesus Can’t Play Rugby

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: USC Rugby
Residence: Philadelphia, PA
Performance Date: 23 April 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian, Arabic

Italian-American

University of Southern California

USC Rugby

International Relations

Italian, Arabic, English

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

23 April 2011

Rugby Song, “Jesus Can’t Play Rugby”

Transcription (because it would not be the same if not sung in context)

One person :”Jesus can’t play Rugby because he’s hung up on the cross.”

Everybody repeats twice, followed by “Jesus saves, Jesus saves, Jesus saves”

Next person: “Jesus can’t play rugby ’cause his mother was a whore.”

Everybody repeats twice, followed by “Jesus saves, Jesus saves, Jesus saves”

Etc.

Everybody: “God you know were only kidding, God you know were only kidding, God you know were only kidding, Jesus saves, Jesus saves, Jesus saves”

CG explains that the Rugby song, and songs like it, is a definite part of the rugby experience and rugby traditions at USC. He mentions that he doesn’t think that that it particular to just USC rugby, and he believes that he once heard another rugby player from another school mention it. CG explains that the context to the performance of this song is very important. The songs are generally only sung when there is a large gathering of rugby players and there are copious amounts of alcohol. The purpose of the event, in his words, is to have a good time while getting really drunk. CG mentions that the majority of the rugby songs are raunchy, sexist, and offensive. He explains that it is all in good fun and in no way should be taken seriously.  He explains that the culture of rugby is defined by a duality: one offensive and dirty, the other “gentlemanly.” To explain this, CG stated, “You know how soccer is described as a gentleman’s sport played by hooligans? Well, rugby is a hooligan’s sport played by gentlemen.”

Looking at the song, and having witnessed the context that it was performed; I find that the significance behind it as reported by CG is logical. The song, without a doubt is offensive, and borders on inappropriate. However, I believe this is the reason that the rugby team sings it. In a way, the team is looking to push/test the boundaries of what is appropriate in society. It is supposed to be shocking, as participants will often comment on just how bad it is. I also agree with the statement that it is not inherently meant to be offensive. Having known the informant for several years, I can safely say that he is religious and a practicing Catholic. Looking at the song, the structure and wording of it is designed to demonstrate that the participants don’t really mean what their saying. Each different line is finished with the statement “Jesus saves,” and the ending clearly demonstrates this. The second purpose of the song is to test members on rugby “lore.” After one person completes a line, another person is picked out to recite another line. If the person fails or stumbles, everybody dips there hands into their beer and throws it at the individual yelling, “Redeem thyself” until they can think of a new line. The song is a way for the team to include younger individuals and make them feel apart of a group.

The clip below is an example of some of the lyrics to the song.

http://youtu.be/9ucfrVFc70g

Folk Games: ??????? (Gorodki)

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Acoountant
Residence: Scottsdale, AZ
Performance Date: 25 April 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Russian

White/Native American

University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of Southern California

International Relations

Accountant for Make a Wish

English, Russian

Scottsdale, Arizona

25 April 2011

Russian Folk game- ???????

Roman spelling- Gorodki

Direct translation- townletts

Translation- little cities

“So Gorodki is a Russian peasant folk game that was taught to me by my Russian language teacher. I only played it once but the rules are pretty simple. Basically, you draw or make a square on the ground. The square is called a gorod, meaning a city in English. You then take these short cylindrical pieces of wood, and stack them into shapes. There are more than like 10 ten of these shapes and each has a name. After this, you walk like 20 feet and then throw a larger piece of wood at the formation. You then get points for the number of pieces of wood you knock out of the square. Players take turns and when the pieces of wood are all out of the square, the person who knocked out the most pieces wins.” RA explained that the game was really easy to make, and he believes that this is the case because the pieces are so simple. He mentioned all you really need is a bunch of sticks to play. He mentions that it was a pretty big sport for the peasants of Russia. He also believes that it was partially started by Soldiers because several of the names of the wood configurations look and have a “military sound to them.” Ie. artillery, canon, shooting gallery, and watchmen. Clearly, the game is still being changed, as configurations of modern configurations are included (machine gun installation and airplane). He mentions that his Russian teacher showed a really old picture of Leo Tolstoy playing the game, showing the game has existed for more than a hundred years.

From the information RA gave me, I believe that Gorodki is an example of folklore. Foremost, is the fact that it is still referred to as a peasant game. The simplicity of the game makes it easily taught or understood through observation and minimal instruction. The game also allows for variation, as individuals can make up their own configurations of wood or stand further back to make it harder. The game is still played today, showing how popular it was/is in Russia.

After some basic research, I found that Gorodki is a very old game. It existed very similar to the modern game in the 1600’s. Though considered a folk game, Gorodki was apparently played by some of the aristocracy of Russia. It existed without formal rules until the 1920’s, when it was organized into an official sport by the Soviet Union. Gorodki appears as a game for the Wii video game console and appeared as a challenge in the television show The Amazing Race season 17, episode 7. 

Superstition: Sports Luck

Nationality: American
Age: 25
Occupation: Colorist for Cartoon Network
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 20 April 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, Japanese

White/Hispanic

California State University Fullerton

Illustration

Colorist for Cartoon Network’s Regular Show

English, Spanish

20 April 2011

Sports luck- Kicking the base of the flag pole.

“I’m a huge SC football fan. I’ve been going to football games with my family since before I can even remember. And for as long as I can remember, I’ve kicked the base of one of the flagpoles off Trousdale on the way to the Coliseum. I think I learned it from my father, he has been an SC football fan since he started going to the games when he was a Freshman. I don’t really know why I do it, I guess for luck and because that’s what my family always does. It’s a pretty common thing; you can hear people kicking the metal base plate long before you ever reach the flagpoles. The bases of the poles are scuffed and are so loose because of the thousands of people who kick it every game. It’s really funny when you get new fans that don’t realize how hard you have to kick the base to make a loud noise.  They’ll just tap it and it doesn’t make a noise. When this happens, it’s not uncommon to boo the person, unless they’re a kid or something.”

Looking at the act of kicking the flagpole, I agree with my informant. This act is an example of sport’s luck. People have thousands of different little things that they do prior to and during games to ensure there team the best chance of wining. If your team wins its because they are the better team, however if they lose, and you failed to adhere to your pre-game ritual, then its all your fault. The act of kicking the flagpole, in my opinion, is also a simple gesture to ward off possible calamity and for luck. It’s a superstition akin to knocking on wood after saying something is going really good. The act of kicking the pole can also be seen as a way for people to recognize the real fans that have stayed with the team for years. AT recalls a time when barely 15, 000 people would attend SC football games. In her own words, “Man we (the team) were bad back in the mid 90’s. Some fans started calling it the Dark Ages. The Coliseum was practically empty, you were a real fan if you stuck with the team back then. Now, we win all the time, which is awesome. But because of this, we get a bunch of bandwagoners that don’t know anything about the traditions.”

Mexican Child Game- “Pon Pon Pata”

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 47
Occupation: Accountant
Residence: Sacramento, CA
Performance Date: March 15, 2011
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English

The informant is a 47-year old accountant working in California, originally from Michoacán, Mexico. She lived a modest life as a young adult, having to take care of her family at a very young age while still finding success in management. She then moved to the United States with her husband to raise their family and now works in accounting. She primarily speaks Spanish with English as a second language.  He shall be referred to as MB.

“Pon pon pata, cola de la rata, pon pon pon, cola de ratón.”

“Pon pon pata, tail of the mouse, pon pon pon, tail of rat.”

“Pon pon pata, mouse tail, pon pon pon, rat tail.”

While “pata” translates to “foot,” it is not meant as an actual word. As with “pon pon pon,” it is simply a nonsense phrase that is easily rhymed.

This rhyme is used on children barely a few months old (as young as three months). This game is played by the adult taking the index finger of his or her dominant hand, then sticking it to the palm of the opposite hand. This is done to the beat of every syllable. The adult does this with an enthusiastically happy expression, trying to make the infant laugh. Eventually, the child is able to mimic this action and gains a sense of hand-eye coordination by taking his or her own index finger and jabbing into the opposite palm.

MB explains that this very simple game, made partly of nonsense words, is a simple way to engage children in a hand-eye coordination exercise. It only requires the most basic of motor ability at a time when the adult will get sheer joy out of the child learning. By mirroring, the child is actively engaging with an outside influence. Simultaneously, the references to the rat and mouse tails are used to create familiarity with these animals that are common sights in ranch life.